Woman's Best Friend
by mamaXunicorn
Summary: Regina discovers that a dog's love can be the truest love of all.
1. Chapter 1

Regina was more than certain no one would find her there, in this remote little cabin in the middle of the woods. She didn't know who it belonged to and quite frankly she didn't care. It looked like it hadn't been lived in in...well twenty eight years. And so she claimed it for her own.

There was no way she could return to the town and live in her own home. The darling Charmings had her head out for a murder, that this time, she did not commit. Emma had turned her own son against her and because Archie was dead there was now no one that could speak on her behalf.

She absolutely hated the thought of living alone but there was no life that waited for her back in Storybrooke. She even debated walking across the town line to forget everything she's ever done, to forget that everyone hated her and wanted her nothing but dead. To forget the hurt and the pain that came out of losing her only friend in the town, to losing her son and to losing Daniel...again. And though she decided against it for the moment, there was still that little part of her that kept that option open. It all depended on how long she lasted in this cabin all by herself. Her sanity was hanging by a very thin thread and it wouldn't hold out much longer.

She didn't bother lighting a fire. The people in that town were dumb but she didn't think they were that dumb. So instead she just found a blanket and curled up on the couch, getting lost in her thoughts.

She was roused from a light sleep she had dozed off into by a rustling coming from outside. She was immediately off the couch, the blanket falling to her feet and she turned toward the door, holding her hand out ready to fight off whoever had come to disturb her.

The rustling kept getting closer and closer and she could hear whoever it was circling the house. She narrowed her eyes, jumping only slightly as a bang came onto the front door.

And then, to her surprise she heard an animalistic whine. She knew it didn't belong to a human.

She slowly lowered her hand and made her way over to the door. As she neared the door she could hear scratching against the wood and soft cries emitting from the creature. Curiosity pulling at her more than anything, she pulled open the door and felt her jaw drop as she saw what stood at the door.

Archie's beloved dog Pongo looked up at her, his ears perked and tail wagging.

"Pongo?"

At the sound of his name, Pongo barked and ran past her into the cabin. She followed him with her eyes as he pranced in and watched as he sniffed around the cabin before turning around to face her and barked again.

She closed the door and began to walk toward him. Part of her began to wonder if he had become the sheriff's bloodhound and was leading them straight toward her but he wasn't trying to alert anybody, he just sat down in the middle of the floor, staring at her.

"What are you doing here, boy?" She reached out to scratched behind his ears and he leaned into her palm, swishing his tail against the wood floor.

Then he stood up and trotted over to the couch, hopping up on one side and barked. She furrowed her brow and walked over to stand in front of him.

He whined and lifted his paw toward her.

Regina turned her head curiously and then took a seat beside him on the couch. Almost instantly, Pongo turned to face her and moved so he was sprawled out across the couch, his head resting in her lap. Then he whined as he looked up at her with his big brown eyes, lifting his paw to rest over her knee.

She hesitantly reached down and ran her fingers over his soft fur. His tail started moving back and forth as he tilted his head, pressing it further into her lap.

Despite herself, Regina felt a sudden warmth and tightness in her chest and tears start to prick behind her eyes. She didn't even think of what would happen to Pongo now that Archie was gone but she knew Pongo was loyal to his master and now that he was gone...the one person he came to find...was her.

She hadn't felt the love of an animal since Rocinante and that had ended abruptly after Daniel was killed and she was shipped off to live with King Leopold in his castle.

She had never considered a love an animal to make her feel something other than absolute loneliness. She knew Maleficent had her unicorn but Regina always thought her love for that creature was ridiculous.

But as she sat now, with everyone hating her, except for this dog who was curled up on her lap, she realized it was not ridiculous at all.

She bit down on her lip softly and closed her eyes, a single tear rolling down her cheek. Her arm tightened around Pongo's body as she leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. "Thank you." She whispered.

Pongo lifted his head with a whine and for once in a very long time, a genuine peel of laughter escaped her lips as his wet tongue slobbered her cheek with a kiss.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: I am thrilled by the response this got! I didn't know everyone loved Regina and Pongo so much. Here's a new chapter and **_nahbois68_** you get part of your wish!**_

* * *

Regina stared at her reflection in the mirror and let a small smile cross her lips. It had been a year since she finally defeated her mother for good. Cora was dead and gone and was never going to ruin her life again. She had killed her herself and she vowed that would be the last murder she would ever commit. And she had done well to keep to it.

After the town was nearly destroyed by the huge showdown between her and Cora and between Rumplestiltskin and Hook, the whole town came together to rebuild it and now it thrived greater than it ever had before.

Emma, Snow and David were the first to apologize for jumping to all the wrong conclusions about her, especially when it had come to Archie's supposed murder. Following the beloved family's lead came the rest of the town, a little more hesitant, but ernest in their apology.

Regina, at first, felt like not forgiving them, after all their blame had nearly ruined her life. But it was when Henry ran up to her and hugged her tight, apologizing and telling her he loved her that she realized that she could not become that vengeful woman again.

So she worked hard to redeem herself, trying to get on everyone's good side. And playing nice with Snow White and her family seemed to do the trick.

Six months ago she was reinstated as mayor upon Emma's recommendation. At that point the town was still hesitant of her but trusted her enough to let it happen. She made sure she was careful of everything she did as mayor and the town was well on its way to becoming greater than it ever had been before.

Regina's life was heading to a place she thought it'd never get to. A place full of happiness and love and friendship. A weight was lifted off her shoulders when her mother died and she was finally able to live the life she was supposed to lead.

And even so, she still had a lot of issues to deal with. So she continued to see Archie every week and he was more than helpful. He didn't judge her based on anything she said and the more sessions they had, the more she dug deeper into a part of her soul even she wanted to forget. Archie was truly becoming one of her dearest friends. Even on the days that they didn't delve too much into her personal life, they spent hours talking about little things and they'd both end up smiling and laughing.

So needless to say, on this day, this thursday afternoon she was looking forward to one of the best parts of her week.

She fixed her hair, pushing back a few crazy strands of hair behind her ear, preparing herself to go to Archie's.

She was almost about to leave when her phone rang. As mayor, her phone rang constantly, much more than it ever had before the curse broke, and it was something she had become used to. And if it had been her office phone she would have let it go to voicemail and checked on it after her session but she soon realized it was coming from her home phone.

She frowned. Only a few people ever called her home phone. She walked over and picked it up, "Regina Mills speaking."

"Regina!" Her brow lifted at the sound of Archie's frantic voice on the other side of the line.

"Archie? Is something the matter?"

"No, no...nothing's the matter...not really. I mean...I just...I am going to have to cancel our appointment today."

"Oh." Regina tried to hide the disappointment in her voice. She couldn't remember the last time Archie had cancelled on her. "Is there a problem?"

"Something has just come up." He answered quickly and Regina found it odd how on edge he seemed. "I'll call to reschedule later."

"Alright...I'll talk to you la-"

"Have a nice day, Regina!" Archie called into the receiver before hanging up.

Regina stared down in surprise at the phone before hanging it back up. She frowned out of confusion and concern. Then she figured there would be no use in worrying about it, he did promise to call later and whatever it was was probably nothing major.

She sighed at her plans for the day being cancelled however and begrudgingly trudged into her office to finish some paperwork she had been putting off.

* * *

It was just after dinner, around 7:30 pm when her phone rang again. Regina placed the last dish in the dishwasher, quickly pressed start and walked over to the phone.

"Hello?" She answered simply.

"Regina!" Archie's voice rang out again, less frantic and more excited now. "I'm glad I could get a hold of you. I am terribly sorry about before. I would like to reschedule our appointment and invite you over."

Regina lifted her brow and glanced at the clock. True it wasn't that late but she knew Archie liked to have evenings to himself. "Now?"

"Yes." She could hear his smile over the phone. "I would like to show you something."

"Show me what?" She inquired, now fully interested.

"Just come over. The door will be open so just walk right in."

She let out a hesitant laugh, "Alright." Archie was not one to usually be so cryptic. He said what he meant and that was that.

"I'll see you soon." With that he hung up again and Regina shook her head to herself. So far, it had been a really weird day.

About fifteen minutes later Regina entered Archie's building and headed down the hall to his office. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she approached the door, she didn't know what surprise he had for her at the other side of the door but it both excited her and frightened her a little.

Just as Archie had said, the door was cracked slightly open and she could hear Archie's calm voice mumbling softly. She sucked in her lower lip and slowly pushed the door open.

From where she stood she could see nothing but Archie kneeling in the corner, a smile on his face as he talked quietly. At the sound of the door squeaking open, Archie lifted his head and a bright grin spread across his face. "Regina, come here." He waved her over.

Regina found his smile contagious and couldn't help the smile that crossed her own lips. She crossed the room in several strides and a soft gasp passed her lips at the sight in front of her.

Laying on a large pile of blankets was Purdy and suckling against her were eight tiny puppies. "Oh." She covered her mouth with her hands as she kneeled beside Archie, gazing down in awe at the pups.

Several months ago, a stray dalmatian had been found running through the town. The female dog instantly took a liking to Archie's dalmatian, Pongo and Pongo had fallen just as quickly. Henry had named the female Perdita, finding it appropriate given Pongo's name.

It was not too long after that that they found out Purdy was expecting puppies and she knew Archie had been waiting anxiously for the time they'd be born. Regina couldn't believe she had forgotten that.

"They're adorable." Regina whispered, taking in each little white wiggly body.

Sitting proudly behind Purdy and the puppies was Pongo and Regina smiled at him as she caught his eye. She reached over and scratched his head affectionately and he nuzzled the palm of her hand.

Archie turned to look at her with a smile. "Would you like one?"

Regina twisted her head sharply to face him, her eyes wide. "What?"

"Well when they get a little older, I mean. I can't keep all of them and I know how well you and Pongo got along when I was gone. I thought it only seemed right you should have one of his puppies."

Regina felt herself suddenly speechless as she looked back down at the puppies. It was true, she was crushed when Pongo returned to his rightful owner. She was able to see Pongo every week during their appointments but she missed the feeling of having him sleep on the foot of her bed, to wake up with her in the morning, to follow her around everywhere and growl at anyone who tried to come near her. She missed having a dog and for some reason she never went to the animal shelter to find one. Perhaps she knew it was a hole that could only be filled by Pongo.

But staring down at the little creatures, small enough to fit in the palms of her hands, knowing that one of them could be hers, she felt an overwhelming sense of joy.

She looked back up to Archie and nodded, a watery smile playing over her lips. "I'd love that."

Archie smiled back at her. "Consider it done."

Regina grinned and turned her attention back to the puppies. She swallowed softly, reaching out her hand slightly. "May I?"

"Be my guest." Archie answered and Regina slowly reached out her hand, running one finger along the back of the puppy nearest to her. The little one let out a small squeak and lifted its little pink nose in the air, scrambling its little legs against the blanket.

Then it returned to suckling its mother and Regina let out a quiet laugh.

"I think we found a volunteer." Archie said and Regina couldn't keep the smile off of her face.

* * *

It was just over six weeks later that Regina was able to take the puppy of her choice home. She had visited Archie and the dogs every week, sometimes even multiple times during the week. The first couple of visits the puppies couldn't see or hear and could barely walk. Then one day, at one of her therapy visits, she came in to the sound of tiny yips and found all eight puppies in a playpen like area with their mother, all scurrying around the cage, jumping on each other and chewing on each other. They grew more and more each time Regina came over and she could have sworn the same puppy came over to her every time.

"Good afternoon, Regina." Archie smiled as he opened the door for her on the thursday of that week.

"Good afternoon, Dr. Hopper." Regina greeted back kindly.

Archie shook his head softly. "We don't have an appointment today Regina, you can call me Archie."

Regina smiled softly in return and nodded curtly. "How are the puppies?" She wondered.

"They are doing just fine." He grinned and motioned her forward. "Come on." He led her to one of the storage closets he had cleaned out and took the door off of, making it a little room just for the dogs.

She peered across the gate and spied Pongo and Purdy laying together in one corner of the room, watching their puppies play. Pongo was the first one to notice her and his ears perked as he spotted her and she smiled and waved to him, "Hello Pongo."

The older dog jumped out of his laying position and ran over to her, pressing his nose into her palm. She chuckled softly and scratched his head lightly.

The puppies all followed their father and were now pressed up against the gate, all yipping at her for attention. She smiled as she kneeled down, reaching her hand over the gate to pet each of them.

One of the puppies, the one that had become particularly fond of her, practically jumped the gate in order to get to her.

"Woah!" She caught the wiggly puppy in her hands and smiled at it as it tried to reach out for her, sticking its little pink tongue out, licking the air.

She stood up and pressed the puppy against her chest and its sprawled its little paws out against her and reached up, licking under her chin incessantly. "Why hello there." She laughed, closing her eyes as the puppy tried climbing up her chest to lick her face.

She wrapped her hands around her hands around the puppy and lifted it into the air and it yipped happily, its little limbs flying through the air. "You are an energetic one, aren't you?"

The puppy yipped again and she once again brought it to her chest, tucking it under her chin and holding it close as she turned to Archie.

"Is he the one you want?" He asked.

Regina glanced down at the puppy in her arms who was staring back up at her, panting happily. He had one solid black ear and one solid white ear and a ring of black around his left eye. He was the most unique of the bunch and he had seemed to choose her.

She nodded, smiling as she looked back to Archie. "Yes, he is. What's his name?"

Archie laughed quietly. "Your son seems to have quite the obsession with 101 Dalmatians. He named each of the puppies after their likeness. So-"

"This is Patch." She answered for him. She knew very well how much Henry liked 101 Dalmatians. It was one of the only Disney movies she'd let him watch as a kid. When he started going to therapy with Dr. Hopper he was thrilled to find out Pongo was his doctor's dalmatian. With how many times she watched that movie with Henry she could name each of the dogs off memory.

Archie smiled and nodded in affirmation.

"You can name him something else, if you'd like. He hasn't had the name long enough to recognize it." Archie told and Regina shook her head in protest.

"I wouldn't dare change his name." She smiled and rubbed her fingers along Patch's head and Patch wriggled happily in her arms, his tail hitting her stomach with a nice thud.

"Are you sure they're alright to leave?" Regina turned back to Archie. "They still seem so little. I would hate for Pongo and Purdy to miss him."

Archie smiled at her softly and shook his head, raising his hands. "It's fine. Six weeks is a prime age for a puppy to leave its mother. Besides, it's not like he's going to a stranger." He nodded his head toward the closet. "Pongo trusts you."

Regina turned her head to see Pongo staring back at her, his tail lightly swishing back and forth and she smiled. "Thank you, Pongo."

Pongo barked in reply and Regina brought Patch back over to the gate, leaning over with him so Pongo could sniff his puppy goodbye and Purdy trotted over to do the same, nuzzling her pup's head and giving him a last kiss. Then Purdy bumped Regina's hand with her nose and started to wag her tail.

Regina smiled at both of them and holding onto Patch tightly in one arm, she reached over to pet Purdy on the head and then did the same to Pongo. Patch yipped in her arms and started to climb up her shoulder, licking the side of her face eagerly.

She laughed as she pulled him away from her face, tucking him in the crook of her arm. "You are going to be a handful aren't you?"

Patch yipped again and started to nibble lightly on Regina's arm, looking up at her through bright, round brown eyes.

Staring down at the puppy, Regina grinned. She hadn't felt this happy since Henry was first brought into her life. Henry was almost a teenager now and spending half his time with the biological side of his family. But now she had another baby in her life, even if that baby was a dog. And this one would stay with her and love her unconditionally no matter what.


End file.
